


Please Come Home for Christmas

by genevievedarcygranger



Series: Hotch x Garcia [7]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Based on an Eagles Song, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Magic, Christmas Miracles, Christmas Music, Dancing, Dancing and Singing, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Pining, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Short One Shot, Singing, Song Lyrics, Song fic, Song: Please Come Home for Christmas (The Eagles), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genevievedarcygranger/pseuds/genevievedarcygranger
Summary: Garcia overhears Hotch humming a Christmas song.
Relationships: Penelope Garcia/Aaron Hotchner
Series: Hotch x Garcia [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862245
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Please Come Home for Christmas

_“Friends and relations send salutations_

_Sure as the stars shine above._

_But this is Christmas, yes, Christmas, my dear,_

_Some time of year to be with the one you love.”_

\- “Please Come Home for Christmas,” _The Eagles_

* * *

Garcia really tried to leave Quantico at a decent time every day, but in her line of work, that’s not always possible. Every other office job in the world clocked out at five. Profilers and their technical analysts/miracle workers? Not so much. It didn’t matter the time of day, rain or shine, or if Christmas was less than two weeks away. The world didn’t stop spinning and people never stopped needing help.

So, Garcia sucked it up, being a self-proclaimed miracle worker and all. That being said, she was a little stumped on why she was one of the ones till left at the office. She hadn’t planned on staying this long, but she’d been reviewing crime scene footage so that meant she took plenty of breaks with panda bears and cuddly puppies. He’d just finished up the paperwork for it all and she had to print out to turn it in to Hotch since he was so old-fashioned.

Walking through the bullpen to turn in the paperwork now with her bag slung over her elbow, Garcia felt a little bit unsafe in the dark FBI office all alone and a whole lot exhausted for staying this late. It was nearly ten. It was going to be freezing on her walk to her car Esther.

With a small sigh, Garcia looked up and noticed that though Hotch’s blinds were closed, there was still a glow from his office. The midnight oil. She shook her head. He should be at home with his son Jack, but instead here he was. So close to Christmas, too. Garcia didn’t judge him for it. Despite how stern he is, he is the tender-hearted type. Hotch strove for justice, to make things right in the world. She admired him for how strong he was, for doing the right thing all the time. She wished she could be that way. Though, if she ever voiced this wish aloud to Hotch, he’d tell her that she was strong, that she was brave, stronger or braver than any of them.

The closer she approached his office, for some reason trying to be quiet to keep her heels from clacking too loud on the metal stairs, the more Garcia thought she heard something. She paused halfway up the stairs and brought her fingers to her sternum to keep all her jewelry from jangling and clinking together. Hotch’s office door was cracked open, the light spilling out just far enough that she caught got in it, her face half-illuminated, half swathed in shadow. Someone was humming. It was a Christmas song, Garcia knew, but it wasn’t one that she immediately recognized the lyrics of since it wasn’t a classic. Then she paused and considered. _Hotch was humming?_

Now she was curious enough and she deliberately crept closer. Her heels creaked on the stairs, but Hotch’s humming didn’t waver. She wished he would sing. He would have a beautiful singing voice, she’d bet, if he would ever just do it.

Suddenly, the lyrics came to her as she placed the song. Brushing her knuckles on his office door, she let it swing open. “Hey, I thought you were a Beatles fan. No ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ or ‘Merry Xmas’?” Garcia teased, fluttering her fingers in hello.

Hotch did not visibly startle, but his humming abruptly stopped. Garcia mourned its loss. “Garcia,” he greeted her warmly, “Why are you here so late?”

“Finishing work, bossman. I could ask you the same.” Garcia normally let herself be more professional with Hotch, but she was sure he’d let it slide since it was just the two of them. She fluttered the paperwork at hm now, and he held up his hand to receive it. It was passed over, and their fingertips brushed. A warmth passed through Garcia, dripping down her body like candle wax all the way to her toes. “So, the Eagles?” She asked, trying to cover up her unexplained blush.

“He ducked his head, unnecessarily double-checking her paperwork. “I guess it’s just the Christmas spirit getting to me.”

“More like the Christmas blues, sir.” Garcia hitched her bag up higher. “It’s a sad song.” She was no profiler, but she could guess what was on his mind for him to be thinking of that one of all Christmas songs.

“It starts sad,” Hotch admitted, fidgeting with his pen, “but it gets better.” His thumb rubbed at the side of his palm. It was a gesture Garcia recognized from their poker nights with the team. He was nervous. How could she make him nervous?

On instinct, she offered him a smile to soothe him over. “Remind me?” She clarified, “Remind me how it gets happier?”

“I didn’t say ‘happier,’ just ‘better.’” Hotch gently corrected. He placed his pen down on the paperwork anyway and laced his fingers together. When all of his attention was on her like this, she felt like she could do anything – conquer the world – but that wasn’t exactly what the wanted to do when he looked at her. She always had something more intimate in mind. “How do you want me to remind you?”

Feeling like she was cheating, Garcia fluttered her eyes. She could ways pass it off as one of her flirty jokes. “Sing it to me?”

The corner of Hotch’s mouth lifted in a smile. “I can do better than that.” He stood and walked around his desk, offering Garcia his hand. “Dance with me?”

Pleasantly confused, her gaze darted between his open, honest face and his outstretched hand. She lightly tossed her purse on the couch. “I’d love to,” she murmured as she placed her hand in his.

It was like JJ and Will’s wedding all over again. It felt exactly the same, too, to Garcia, as if they were the only ones in the room, in the world even. In this case they really were the only ones there.

He pulled her close, and they didn’t try to do anything fancy. Their feet shuffled and they swayed a little. Her hand was on his shoulder, his hand was on her waist, and the others were interlocked. He rocked her, and she balanced on her heels. And while he didn’t quite fully sing, he did murmur to her so softly, “ _So won't you tell me you'll never more roam? Christmas and New Year's will find you home. There'll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain, and I'll be happy, happy once again_.”

Garcia allowed herself to gaze up into his face, not bothering to hide any of her feelings for him. The same was written all over him, etched into the iris of his eyes, in the dilation of his pupils. Lifting her hand from his shoulder, she cupped his cheek and dragged her thumb over his lips once he stopped singing. It didn’t take much to coax him down to her height for a kiss.

They both kept it sweet and light, both of them too exhausted to do anything much for arduous. There were no questions about what to do next or where to go from there. That could wait until the morning.

Instead, when they pulled away, Garcia dropped her head down to his chest until her eardrum was over his sternum and she could hear his strong, steady heartbeat. He started humming again, and the vibrations throbbed underneath her ear, but that only made her snuggle her cheek against his suit. And in that moment, they were both happy, any holiday blues or loneliness long gone.

* * *

_“There'll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain,_

_And I'll be happy, Christmas once again.”_

\- “Please Come Home for Christmas,” _The Eagles._


End file.
